Canton native left homeless by ND flood

It’s a feeling that residents of Canton can only partially relate to — that overwhelming sense of uncertainty and dread that comes with the threat of an impending natural disaster.

They felt it on June 1, when a series of tornadoes touched down across the western part of the state, and for a few brief hours at least, threatened to move eastward into Norfolk County. They felt it to a somewhat lesser extent last March, when torrential rains flooded roadways and basements, and even caused a small dam to burst within a housing complex off Bolivar Street.

Air Force Captain James Carmichael

None of it, however, can compare to what is happening in faraway Minot, North Dakota — a city about the size of Braintree located roughly 50 miles south of the Canadian border — where Canton native James Carmichael and more than 11,000 other local inhabitants have been forced to evacuate their homes due to a record-setting flood.

“I can’t even believe this is all happening,” said Carmichael, a 2002 graduate of Canton High School, in a telephone interview last Friday. “It is so surreal.”

A captain in the Air Force who flies B-52 bombers for a living, Carmichael is stationed out of Minot Air Force Base, but he recently purchased a home off base and was living there until last Wednesday, when National Guard sirens announced the start of a mandatory evacuation.

According to National Weather Service officials, heavy spring rainfall and snowmelt in Saskatchewan and Manitoba had caused the outflows from nearby Lake Darling to increase significantly, thereby swelling the Souris River, which divides the city of Minot roughly in half, north and south.

Having been warned of the evacuation two days earlier, Carmichael, whose home sits less than two blocks from the river, had already moved most of his belongings to a friend’s house by the time the sirens went off — approximately nine hours ahead of schedule.

At the time, Carmichael said he was still clinging to the hope that the National Guard would be able to contain the floodwaters with an emergency dike system, just as it had with the previous flood scare roughly three weeks earlier.

“There was just so much hope and possibility that we might be able to beat it again,” said Carmichael, who recalled that it was “75 degrees and sunny” on the day he left his house.

Yet the situation grew worse in a hurry, and by the very next day, the water had reached his street. By Friday, it was halfway up his house and rising rapidly.

“I’m now essentially homeless,” said Carmichael, who has spent the past few nights in a friend’s basement.

Carmichael's home in Minot prior to the flood

Making matters considerably worse, however, is the fact that Carmichael, like most of his affected neighbors, does not have any form of flood insurance, meaning he will likely be responsible for the entire mortgage as well as all of the items lost in the flood.

“Financially, for him, this is devastating,” said Carmichael’s mother, Linda, who still lives in Canton.

Linda said she cannot blame her son for choosing not to purchase flood insurance — not when he was assured by locals that a new dam system, constructed after a devastating flood in 1969, was virtually failsafe.

“He took them at their word,” said Linda. “He didn’t know the area. Nobody else has flood insurance out there, so he went ahead and bought it.”

However, last week’s flood not only surpassed the one in 1969 in terms of water level; it also shattered the mark set in 1881 by more than three feet. The Souris finally crested on Sunday, but not before hitting 1,561 feet above sea level — a staggering 12 feet above flood stage.

All told, the flood damaged or destroyed more than 4,000 homes, and officials warned on Monday that it would take several days for the water to recede behind the levees.

“It really is a waiting game because we have no idea how long the high water is going to stay,” said Carmichael. “We don’t know when we can get back into our homes; we can’t even see our homes.”

As recently as Monday, all of the bridges connecting the northern half of the city with the southern half were still closed, and the majority of residents were still subject to a boil water order due to concerns over possible contamination of the municipal water supply.

“The worst part for me is that James is so far away and we can’t help him,” said his mother. “We try to be very hopeful and encouraging for him, letting him know that this could be worse.”

She said the family takes comfort in the fact that he has the full support of the Air Force, where “everybody helps each other out.”

“My squadron has been great,” Carmichael noted. “They have given us time to help the community and help one another.”

He also praised the efforts of the 800-plus National Guardsmen who came to Minot to fight the flood and secure the areas that had been evacuated. And there have been countless reports of neighbors helping neighbors — a common occurrence in Minot, according to Carmichael.

Flooded intersection in Minot (KX News Minot)

Then again, even the most uplifting stories of good Samaritans can only do so much when a person’s home is submerged under water.

“The irony is that my husband works for the VA and is in charge of the military homeless program for the whole New England area,” said Linda. “And now it’s happening to his son — hopefully only temporarily, but it’s a tough thing for him to go through.”

At this point, all Carmichael can hope to do is apply for federal disaster assistance and wait for the floodwaters to subside.

“I’m eventually going to have to pump out my basement and see what’s left of my house,” he said.

As for his family back in Canton, they just have to keep reminding themselves that it really could be worse.

“You know,” said Linda, “there are military guys who come home with no arms and no legs. But at least he’s got his health, and that’s what’s important.”

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Posted by Jay Turner on Jun 29 2011. Filed under News. Both comments and pings are currently closed.